Worrying interview coming!
Discussion
Just got asked to come for an interview in the new year
Its a 45 minutes interview followed by 45 minutes preparing a 30 minute presentation (using provided materials).
Now I am worried about this not because of doing a presentation, but the length of it (and the time to prepare). To be clear, I presented my PhD work at international conferences, thoroughly, in just 15 minutes, with 10 minutes answering questions. I know how much work that took, and it was more than 45 minutes. I am worried about producing something that is just low quality due to the length of the presentation required....i.e. it'll be full of waffle to pad for time. Plus very difficult to remember 30 minutes of material in 45 minutes, especially if its new.
How do I best prepare myself for this?
EDIT: Ok, little more clarity just came through... its presentation, Q&A and wrap up. So potentially, the presentation isn't 30 minutes! But still, its a short prep time, with unseen material. Are there any good websites or tools I can use to essentially, practice producing presentations in a short time?
Its a 45 minutes interview followed by 45 minutes preparing a 30 minute presentation (using provided materials).
Now I am worried about this not because of doing a presentation, but the length of it (and the time to prepare). To be clear, I presented my PhD work at international conferences, thoroughly, in just 15 minutes, with 10 minutes answering questions. I know how much work that took, and it was more than 45 minutes. I am worried about producing something that is just low quality due to the length of the presentation required....i.e. it'll be full of waffle to pad for time. Plus very difficult to remember 30 minutes of material in 45 minutes, especially if its new.
How do I best prepare myself for this?
EDIT: Ok, little more clarity just came through... its presentation, Q&A and wrap up. So potentially, the presentation isn't 30 minutes! But still, its a short prep time, with unseen material. Are there any good websites or tools I can use to essentially, practice producing presentations in a short time?
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Friday 23 December 11:35
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Friday 23 December 11:43
Not a bad idea. Might give it a go.
I have been reading around about how to prepare for such things and it seems a very many places recommend doing the "rule of three" thing; An intro telling the audience that you are going to talk about stuff. The meat, where you talk about the stuff and the wrap up where you summarise the stuff you just talked about.
Then the usual; eye contact, speak clearly, loudly, don't cram slides full of stuff and aim for maybe 7-8 slides on a 12-15 minute presentation.
The tricky bit is going to be second guessing what the topic might actually be. I am not even sure I'll have access to a laptop. Might just be a pen and paper job or old school OHP and transparencies, so I'd need to be able to prepare the same talk on various media.
I have been reading around about how to prepare for such things and it seems a very many places recommend doing the "rule of three" thing; An intro telling the audience that you are going to talk about stuff. The meat, where you talk about the stuff and the wrap up where you summarise the stuff you just talked about.
Then the usual; eye contact, speak clearly, loudly, don't cram slides full of stuff and aim for maybe 7-8 slides on a 12-15 minute presentation.
The tricky bit is going to be second guessing what the topic might actually be. I am not even sure I'll have access to a laptop. Might just be a pen and paper job or old school OHP and transparencies, so I'd need to be able to prepare the same talk on various media.
Sounds like you are already doing the correct things to prepare. As you have said structure is they key with limited material.
The major point of an interview element like this is to test your ability to think quickly, produce and present in a concise and understandable format.
There are regularly times in my business where you will have to do what they are asking you to do and as such they need someone who can prepare and present with minimal time. A lot of people can present very well when they have days or weeks to prepare but you don't often get that time in many businesses.
The major point of an interview element like this is to test your ability to think quickly, produce and present in a concise and understandable format.
There are regularly times in my business where you will have to do what they are asking you to do and as such they need someone who can prepare and present with minimal time. A lot of people can present very well when they have days or weeks to prepare but you don't often get that time in many businesses.
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